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Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Any big store or shopping center coming into a residential area where there was none before is going to reduce property values. Add to that the Walmart Shopper stigma/stereotype and the fact that they allow motor homes to camp overnight, and the impact is greatly increased. Since that affects the values a home, those people selling to avoid it have to disclose the coming Walmart to potential buyers so as soon as it's approved by the city it affects their home price. We have two in nearby Bellevue, WA where the median family income is over $100,000 and the median priced home is $nearly $600,000. One is located at a mall in a former Mervyn's, where the only homes withing a mile are apartments. The other is located in an old K-Mart that sat empty for 15 years, and it has revitalized that whole shopping center with new and remodeled buildings and oddly, higher end stores. This one is in a commercial area without homes but there are some within a few blocks. According to Redfin those nearest homes have continued to go up in value. One just sold for $520,000 (1,500 sf built in the 1950s).
I find it hard to believe that there are people who would want to live by a Wal Mart with the constant traffic and noise...
The Walmart is being built on 85th and Minnesota. Maybe they should not have built their house near Minnesota Ave (One of the busiest streets in the city, and mostly commercial from end to end) or on 85th street (Also planned as a large multi-lane in each direction artery street). Thinking that the area would remain quiet, or SFH residential, was stupid.
Do people worry that a Walmart would attract "undesireable" people to their neighborhood, or is it the idea of any commercial development close to their homes that they find off-putting?
From what I could tell it was these two things. They are fairly confident that a lot of poor people orbit WalMarts and that the WalMart will create a ton of traffic at odd hours. One thing I have heard repeated (which is only partially true) is that "You never see panhandlers at Target."
The Walmart is being built on 85th and Minnesota. Maybe they should not have built their house near Minnesota Ave (One of the busiest streets in the city, and mostly commercial from end to end) or on 85th street (Also planned as a large multi-lane in each direction artery street). Thinking that the area would remain quiet, or SFH residential, was stupid.
LOL... around here, you could get into a fist fight with words like those.
Big-box stores are everywhere nowadays. Most folks (especially poor folks) are not going to be driving across town to visit a Walmart in somebody else's neighborhood.... they're more likely going to shop at whatever store is in their *own* neighborhood. The Walmart near me is fine, but there's another one 4-5 miles away that has a reputation for being unsafe, at least in part because that whole neighborhood is considered one of the less desireable parts of town.
Re concerns about traffic and noise -- yeah, what do you expect when you buy a house near a busy street with commercial zoning? Duh, sooner or later there are going to be stores built there.....
I think people are making a mistake if they say only poor people shop at Walmart. There is the whole social spectrum at mine.
If a neighborhood has been underserved by retail, perhaps because it was "out in the sticks" the coming of retail development would tend to increase property values.
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Not too close
